{"id":5462,"date":"2023-03-09T15:01:08","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T21:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/?p=5462"},"modified":"2023-03-09T15:06:14","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T21:06:14","slug":"crook-newsletter-march-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/crook-newsletter-march-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Crook Newsletter: March 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MARCH GREETINGS!<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

TEAMS is one of the ministries under the umbrella of People to People. It continues to be such a joy to work with the group that\u2019s been committed to coming to Asia for medical clinics. It\u2019s wonderful that a group from the U.S. and the Philippines loves to sacrifice time off from work to spend two weeks serving the nations. Our last trip was in February 2020 to Bangladesh. When we were hugging each other in Dhaka as everyone was heading home, our parting words were, \u201cSee you in a few months in India.\u201d We are all very familiar with what occurred in March of 2020 and the global travel shutdown.<\/p>\n

In August 2022 I received a message that TEAMS was organizing a trip for February 2023, and guess where \u2013 Bangladesh! I was beyond excited. And how appropriate for this to be the country to relaunch this group. We were grateful on this trip to have a group ministering to the children during clinic times. As the planning progressed, it was very exciting to hear missionaries Vijay and Aparanjani Balla would be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the ministry. People to People Ministries has been so blessed to support this wonderful ministry through child sponsorships for almost 17 years and with five TEAM outreach trips. At the conclusion of this latest trip, we saw over 700 patients, over 300 received reading glasses, and hundreds of children played, laughed, and heard Bible stories from children\u2019s ministry.<\/p>\n

\"Women<\/a>The clinics hosted by Holiness Academy and one of the churches in the North are such a display of God\u2019s love. I recall in the first outreach trips, women never came to the clinics alone and were mostly accompanied by their husbands or another relative. We saw very few women along the roads as we passed markets. Today, as you see from the picture, women come alone or with their children.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Another dynamic that changed the landscape is the garment factories opening. One factory, owned by Indian friends of the Ballas, hosted a one-day medical outreach for their staff. As we toured the facility, we paused by a workstation to meet the longest-serving employee. This individual had never missed a day of work for eight years and her beautiful face was beaming with pride.<\/p>\n

\"Debra<\/a>We also traveled to the northern part of Bangladesh which was an area TEAMS first visited in 2008. Last year a church office was completed, and they hosted another 20th Anniversary Celebration. On our recent trip, we conducted two days of clinics, and I was fortunate to meet two former PTP kids who stayed at Holiness Academy in Dhaka and are now young men. I am thankful for the opportunity of schooling which impacted their futures.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Great is Thy Faithfulness was the theme of the 20th Anniversary Celebration. I rejoice with Vijay and Apa for their faithfulness to God\u2019s calling in Bangladesh and the testimony of God\u2019s faithfulness. They first arrived with their two young children and 20 years later it was such a blessing for their children to be here (Andrew came from the U.S. and Roslin currently teaches at an International school in Dhaka).<\/p>\n

\"Team<\/a>I also want to echo their theme in closing. I do proclaim \u201cGreat is His faithfulness.\u201d He faithfully blesses me every month with faithful supporters, diligent prayer partners, and surrounds me with a confidence that He who calls us provides for us in every area of our lives.<\/p>\n

May each of you continue to experience His faithfulness individually, in your families, and churches.<\/p>\n

Many Blessings,<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Debra Crook<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MARCH GREETINGS! TEAMS is one of the ministries under the umbrella of People to People. It continues to be such a joy to work with the group that\u2019s been committed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":5468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,1,4],"tags":[456,295,173,174,31],"class_list":{"0":"post-5462","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-missionary-newsletters","8":"category-uncategorized","9":"category-world-missions","10":"tag-456","11":"tag-april","12":"tag-crook","13":"tag-debra-crook","14":"tag-missionary-newsletter","15":"entry"},"title_es":"Crook Newsletter: junio de 2019","content_es":"

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\u00a1Saludos!<\/span><\/h2>\r\nEstamos a mediados de 2019, y estoy muy agradecido de ser parte de lo que Dios est\u00e1 haciendo a trav\u00e9s de la Iglesia Vida en Jes\u00fas en la ciudad de Baguio y Asia con los Ministerios People to People. Disfruta leyendo estos testimonios.<\/span>\r\n

Signos de vida<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\n\"Se\u00f1ales de vida\" es el ministerio sordo a trav\u00e9s de la Iglesia Vida en Jes\u00fas que comenz\u00f3 hace varios a\u00f1os. Los domingos por la ma\u00f1ana, sus sillas est\u00e1n dispuestas en una secci\u00f3n espec\u00edfica de la iglesia. Como con cualquier ministerio, hay altibajos; la excitaci\u00f3n alcanza su punto m\u00e1ximo y se disipa y la asistencia disminuye. Este ha sido el caso con este ministerio durante los \u00faltimos a\u00f1os. Esa secci\u00f3n puede tener uno o dos sordos y, los domingos, los \u00fanicos son los int\u00e9rpretes.<\/span>\r\n\r\nLa parte sorprendente de este ministerio es que la iglesia siempre ha tenido miembros dispuestos a aprender el lenguaje de se\u00f1as, incluso si no ven\u00eda nadie. Despu\u00e9s de uno de los servicios dominicales, en la primera parte del a\u00f1o, sent\u00ed que el Se\u00f1or dec\u00eda \"re\u00fana a los int\u00e9rpretes y ore\". Les pregunt\u00e9 qu\u00e9 esperaban y por qu\u00e9 estaban all\u00ed. Cada uno comparti\u00f3 que cre\u00edan que Dios estaba haciendo y har\u00eda algo en la comunidad sorda. Nuestra oraci\u00f3n fue: \"Dios, si necesitas dejar morir este ministerio, si necesitas hacer algo totalmente diferente, no nos importa, pero reconocemos que este ministerio es tuyo. Entonces, depende de usted resucitarlo y darle vida \".<\/span>\r\n\r\nUnas semanas despu\u00e9s, una de las ex asistentes y su prometido se presentaron en nuestra oficina pidiendo asesoramiento prematrimonial. A trav\u00e9s de esa sesi\u00f3n, se restableci\u00f3 una relaci\u00f3n anterior que tuvimos con una escuela para sordos. En los \u00faltimos dos meses, 15 han aceptado a Jes\u00fas como su Salvador y son fieles a su estudio b\u00edblico a mitad de semana. Dios est\u00e1 dando vida nuevamente a este ministerio.<\/span>\r\n

Myanmar: marcando la diferencia<\/span><\/h3>\r\nDurante un viaje a Myanmar en mayo, TEAMS, uno de los ministerios de People to People, se uni\u00f3 a un grupo de estudiantes de Emmanuel College. Siempre es divertido ser parte del primer viaje misionero de alguien. Algunos est\u00e1n buscando t\u00edtulos m\u00e9dicos, por lo que ser parte de una extensi\u00f3n m\u00e9dica tuvo un impacto significativo en sus vidas. Nos encontramos con tantos pacientes que, al final de cada d\u00eda, sab\u00edamos que se satisfac\u00edan las necesidades personales y que la vida se ve\u00eda afectada por el amor mostrado.<\/span>\r\n\r\nLas iglesias albergan las cl\u00ednicas. Esta es una manera maravillosa no solo de alentarlos, sino tambi\u00e9n de impactar y fortalecer la comunidad a la que sirven. Por supuesto, estos eventos atraen multitudes y una gran cantidad de ni\u00f1os curiosos. Como los ni\u00f1os est\u00e1n de vacaciones de verano, se quedar\u00e1n todo el d\u00eda. Otros estudiantes de EC aprovecharon esta oportunidad para ministrar y jugar con ellos. S\u00e9 que estos ni\u00f1os tuvieron una experiencia que nunca olvidar\u00e1n, y rezamos para que las semillas sembradas en sus vidas florezcan e influyan en ellos a diario.<\/span>\r\n\r\nEn una esquina de la habitaci\u00f3n hab\u00eda una mesa muy popular, apodada \"La mesa feliz\". \u00bfPor qu\u00e9 esta mesa era tan diferente? Mientras revisaban una serie de preguntas y ofrec\u00edan una soluci\u00f3n a su problema, sus rostros brillaban. \u00bfQu\u00e9 era este portador de alegr\u00eda? \u00a1Un simple par de anteojos para leer sin receta!<\/span>\r\n\r\nMayo es un mes extremadamente caluroso en Myanmar y, en varios d\u00edas, las temperaturas rondaron los 105 grados. En habitaciones congestionadas, esperar\u00edamos fan\u00e1ticos pero, sin electricidad, pensamos que esto no podr\u00eda suceder. Ahora he descubierto mi uso favorito de la bater\u00eda de un autom\u00f3vil; atar un ventilador y obtener alivio. Con la cantidad de ventiladores configurados cada d\u00eda, estoy agradecido por las personas que conozco que nos prestaron sus ventiladores y bater\u00edas.<\/span>\r\n

Estar involucrado<\/span><\/h3>\r\nLos testimonios no solo nos animan, sino que tambi\u00e9n encienden el Esp\u00edritu de Dios en nosotros para que participemos. El privilegio de servir a los Ministerios People to People, los l\u00edderes de los pa\u00edses de Asia y ser enviado por usted es una experiencia muy humillante. Necesito su colaboraci\u00f3n en apoyo y oraci\u00f3n; a continuaci\u00f3n se muestra la informaci\u00f3n que necesita para hacerlo. \u00a1Sigamos dando testimonio de su bondad!<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","author_name":"Debra Crook","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/children-e1678394984793.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Ar-1q6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}